About a year ago, I looked at the payout percentages for slot machines at Colorado’s mountain casinos and found that they were at their lowest levels in 15 years.

Figures released to me today show that operators loosened their slots a bit in 2009.

Ten years ago, casinos returned $94.50 for every $100 bet on slots. In 2008, operators paid back just $93 for every $100. To put that in perspective, if casinos had continued to pay out at a rate of 94.5 percent in 2008, an additional $133 million in winnings would have been paid out to gamblers.

In 2009, Colorado slot machines returned 93.3 percent of wagers, or $93.30 for every $100 bet.

Casino operators that I’ve spoken with have said they don’t plan on making the change on existing multi-deck games. Some have said they may institute the 6:5 payout on single-deck games or different types of blackjack games, such as double-exposure.

If you happen to see a Colorado casino that has the 6:5 payout on a multi-deck game, drop me an email at avuong@denverpost.com. During a recent visit to Vegas, I noticed many multi-deck games – particularly at Caesar’s Palace – featuring the 6:5 payout, which just tilts the game heavily in the house’s favor.

On a related note, one of the best places to play blackjack Read more…

The Gaming Commission’s decision to allow Colorado casinos to lower the payout on blackjacks from 3:2 to 6:5 stirred “more public discussion” than any other action in recent member, said Division of Gaming director Ron Kammerzell.

“Lost in the discourse regarding the rule changes was the fact that the changes were more about choice than they were about odds,” Kammerzell wrote in the Gaming Division’s monthly newsletter. “Although we remained neutral, we took the proposed changes before the Commission because there was no legal reason why they should not be approved.”

He says many casinos will choose not to lower the blackjack payouts to 6:5. The change is optional and no casino has gone public with their plans.

Not surprisingly, no operator has stepped up to the plate to acknowledge that they made the request to the lower payout. That information should have been disclosed with the public proposal.

Even if it’s to just acknowledge that they plan to add a new blackjack game such as double exposure or single-deck, the property or properties that requested the rule change should be required to speak up.

Quite honestly, I would be surprised if Ameristar didn’t change its tune. That property has by far the largest crowds on the weekends, and during peak hours I’m sure they would have no problem filling a multi-deck, 6:5 game, so long as the minimum bet is no more than $10.Read more…

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UPDATE (02/19/2010 10:00 A.M.):
The commissioners that voted for the change indicated that it was best to let the market decide whether the lower payout should get implemented. Gaming Division spokesman Don Burmania said the commissioners essentially stated in their decision that “the rule was permissive and not mandatory, so the offering of the odds becomes a business decision that the casinos decide, not a regulatory decision that the regulators decide.”

The lower payout can go into effect April 30, though some casinos have said publicly that they don’t plan to implement it. (Whether that holds true six months down the road is another matter).

Currently, casinos must pay 3 to 2 on a blackjack, meaning a $10 bet would win $15. The new rule lowers that payout to $12.

Gaming consultant Bill Zender says the 6 to 5 payout works in Vegas because tourists are there to gamble. But it’s tougher to implement the lower payout in markets that deal with mostly locals, like Black Hawk, Central City and Cripple Creek.

“Six to five blackjack payouts have seen some success in low-limit games in areas that are destination resorts like the Las Vegas Strip,” Zender told me Read more…

Colorado’s mountain casinos posted a 14 percent increase in revenue in December and the industry recorded a 2.6 percent gain for the year. However, only casinos in Black Hawk saw an overall increase in revenue in 2009.

Last month, casinos posted $55.4 million in adjusted gross proceeds – which is total bets minus payouts – up from $48.6 million in December 2008.

During the first six months of 2009, casino revenues fell 3.9 percent compared with the same time period in 2008. Over the final six months after bet limits were raised, new games were added and hours extended, revenues shot up 9.2 percent, according to the state Division of Gaming.

The changes, approved by voters, helped casinos post a 2.6 percent increase in AGP in 2009. In 2008, the industry suffered a 12.3 percent drop.

For 2009, Black Hawk’s 20 casinos generated $530 million in AGP, up 4 percent from $509 million in 2008. Cripple Creek’s 16 casinos posted $140 million in AGP, which was flat from the year before. Central City’s six casinos totaled $64.2 million in AGP in 2009, down 4.3 percent from $67.1 million in 2008.

Colorado’s mountain casinos posted an 8 percent increase in revenue in November compared with the same month in 2008, according to data released today by the state Division of Gaming.

Black Hawk casinos actually saw a 13 percent increase in revenue, but the statewide total was taken down because casinos in Cripple Creek and Central City reported drops in revenue.

Home to the state’s largest casinos, Black Hawk generates the bulk of Colorado’s gaming revenue.

For November, the state’s 40 casinos reported adjusted gross proceeds – total bets minus payouts – of $61.2 million, up from $56.7 million last year.

Through the first five months of Amendment 50 changes, AGP is up 8.5 percent compared with a year ago. Gaming taxes are up 18.8 percent, an indication that the big boys (Ameristar, Isle) are responsible for much of the revenue increase. Any revenue generated beyond $13 million by a casino within a fiscal year is taxed at 20 percent, the highest rate. The first $13 million is taxed at rates ranging from 0.25 percent to 16 percent.

Ameristar CEO Gordon Kanofsky told me last month that the company’s Black Hawk casino posted a 24 percent increase in revenue during the third quarter (the industry recorded 8 percent growth during the same three months). Pretty astonishing numbers. But it’s even more staggering witnessing the domination first hand.

More than five months after bet limits were raised, and two-and-a-half months after Ameristar opened its luxury hotel, the company’s Black Hawk casino is literally crushing the competition, based on my experience and accounts from casino employees.

The Lodge Casino, the premier spot for poker players in Black Hawk just six months ago, struggled to fill tables on a recent Friday evening. Even with a $300,000 bad-beat jackpot, it felt like a weekday evening as about half of the casino’s poker tables were unoccupied. Meanwhile, two-hour waits for a seat at a 1-2, 100 game are common in Ameristar’s poker room on weekend nights.

The state Division of Gaming should release November revenue figures within the next week. But it won’t be broken out by casino. We won’t know just how far ahead of the competition Ameristar is until the company announces fourth quarter financial results early next year. My guess is the gap between Ameristar and the rest of the industry will widen.

And while regulators have already cut their projection on casino-tax revenue growth for the current fiscal year from 25 percent to 10 percent, I wouldn’t be surprised if the forecast was cut even further. By most accounts, Ameristar is the only casino that is maintaining or exceeding the growth pace seen during the first month of higher limits, extended hours and new games.

The assumption is that more regulars are playing at Ameristar with hopes of earning comps for the casino’s hotel, which is clearly a cut above anything else available in Black Hawk. Whether the casino can hold onto those gamblers after Read more…

Black Hawk and Central City casinos are on pace to post an increase in revenue this year after experiencing a deep downturn in 2008, thanks in large part to higher limits, longer hours and new games, according to an analysis by gaming consultant Bill Palermo.

Through October, Black Hawk and Central Casinos posted a 1.5 percent increase in revenue compared with the same time frame a year.

Casinos in the mountain towns suffered a 12.4 percent for the first ten months of 2008, Palermo’s report states. Cripple Creek also has commercial casinos, but that market isn’t included in Palermo’s report.

In July, Colorado casinos were allowed to raise the minimum bet limit from $5 to $100, add craps and roulette table games and stay open 24 hours. Gaming revenues increased 10.7 percent from July to October compared to the same period in 2008. That growth equates to an increase of $21.1 million for the four-month period, and two-thirds of the increase stems from table games, which now represent 11 percent of total revenue.

Palermo said these signs show that the industry may have “bottomed out” after enduring an 18-month downturn from 2008 to mid-2009.

Despite the boost in revenue, a couple of operators are struggling financially, an indication that the industry has yet to bottom out nationwide.

Emilie Rusch covers retail and commercial real estate for The Post. A Wisconsin native and Mizzou graduate, she moved to Colorado in 2012. Before that, she worked at a small daily newspaper in South Dakota. It's the one with Mount Rushmore.